Rain Dancer
by Emiko Venomus
Summary: He never meant to hurt so many people when he messed up for the last time. It was an accident, but it was also a catastrophic choice that would cost him the respect of his friends, all because he'd let the Serpentine steal a very important artifact from the museum.
1. 1 Sensei's Secret

**The ninja are still fighting the Serpentine, and Garmadon has his Mega Weapon still, but this doesn't take place in between or after any episodes... (Oh, and Lloyd is older.) **

1. Sensei's Secret

When Kai, Jay, Cole, and Zane came back from their latest mission, Wu was devastated to find that the end result of chasing off a few Serpentine turned out to be much more catastrophic. The argument that the four of them- well, Kai, Cole, and Jay being the ones doing the fighting, and Zane being the bystander who found it more interesting to stare at the floor- got into was one that the old man had heard many times before that, but this time, the altercation had become so explosive that _Cole, _the normally passive-aggressive team leader, was knee-deep in passionate anger. Wu thought he'd trained his students to be more tolerant of each other's misdemeanors, but he was very wrong.

**~Kai**

"Do you honestly think I _tried _to make it so those Serpentine could steal the Violet Goblet from the museum?" I snapped, trying to make them understand my point. Sensei had sent us out when there were Serpentine sightings happening inside the museum again, which had made my red flags stand up immediately. I didn't want to be turned into a pipsqueak for the third time in my life. We thought maybe the Serpentine were with Garmadon again, trying to remake the Grundal by some stupid thought that would make him the second biggest idiot I'd ever made him in my entire life, but this time it was just a gang of three two headed snakes (so I guess there were actually six snakes?) trying to rob the museum of it's Violet Goblet. The Violet Goblet was some old relic the Ninjago history department found buried under the ground of an old cemetary, and the purple tin cup was apparently some kind of important thing when it came to the time that time didn't have a name. I was no history buff.

But those Serpentine had stolen it, and now, _I _was the one to blame, all 'cause I stepped out of Cole's invisible 'plan' chalk lines.

"Kai," said Cole dangerously, forcing himself to be patient with me. I'd never seen him so angry before, but the whole way back home, he'd yelled at me and nagged me about being impulsive. He sounded worse than Nya did when she was telling me to be patient with forging weapons. Not only did it make _me _feel like crap because I was victimized into Cole's first tantrum, but it also made me feel like crap towards the idea that I lost one of Ninjago's precious artifacts to a bunch of snakes.

I shook my head. "Do you really think that it was my master plan to make them steal it?" I snapped.

Jay threw up his hands. I was being yelled at by him, too. "_We _had a master plan, and _you _ruined it!"

I clenched my jaw. "Sorry," I grumbled, but it was an angry moment that made it hard to feel sorry. When you're in the middle of being scolded like a four year old you feel less and less like the adult you are and more like the little twerp you were yesterday. Er, _I _was yesterday. (I seriously doubt that you were a tiny tot yesterday, and if you were, tell me how you're coping with the dramatic change.)

"_Sorry _doesn't get back the goblet, Kai," Cole yelled, eyes flashing. I clenched my fists.

My temper flared. "What do you want me to do? Go to the Serpentine's base and politely beg them to give it back, tell them that I screwed up and this was all just a huge misunderstanding? Yelling at me isn't going to change anything. It's still gone."

"_Your _fault," Jay added.

I grabbed my hair in my hands, pulling on it. My whole body felt on fire. "I _KNOW _that!" I yelled, and whirled around, kicking the first chair I saw. The _Bounty's _little amount of decoration had recently become my means of destructive expression. The wooden chair crashed against the wall and lost itself a leg. Sensei, standing nearby, gasped.

"Calm," he warned me, but I shook my head.

"Just tell them to stop frickin' nagging me and I'll calm down."

"We'd stop nagging you if this was the first time you'd ruined a plan!" Cole yelled. Zane inched away, more towards the door so he could make an escape. Zane was never one to hear his brothers fight, and this time it just _had _to be music to his ears. "But it isn't! This is probably the millionth time you've screwed up!"

I clenched my fists so tight that my nails dug into my palms, drawing blood. "I hate listening to you tell us what to do all the time. Sorry I don't act like your little bitch," I snapped. Cole's eyes widened, and I turned towards the door. I pushed past Zane into the hallway so that I could stomp away from them all out of the kitchen where they'd all followed me into, Cole the devil on my shoulder and Jay the devil's cousin on the other. The sky was angry and black with a storm brewing just for us. Maybe Mother Nature and I shared a common trait: We both had anger issues. The lightning storm that was starting to crackle across the sky was not anywhere near prim and proper, telling me that we'd be in for a real treat when it started to rain. The overflow just might overcrowd the deck with too much water; Nya had to be relocating us to someplace where we weren't going to drown in our sleep.

Lloyd was on the deck training himself, since everyone else was busier yelling at _me_. He was throwing punches at a potato-sack dummy full of sand that I threw together for him one day, and stopped when I plowed past him, wiping sweat-stuck hair out of his eyes. "Hey," he called to me over the rising wind. The kid was dumb enough to wear sweatpants and a tank top in this freezing weather, his hands wrapped up in white tape. I ignored him and went downstairs.

They didn't understand how hard it is to follow a plan you don't agree with, when you're me. It's always like this. I just hate it.

Being Kai, I can't find inner peace. I don't think I have any.

I stepped into the shower to let cold water singe my inner fire. Maybe that would help me, running my hands over my dark hair and letting the spikes flatten to my head. Out of agitation that wouldn't fade, I squirted half of Cole's bottle of body wash into the drain. _Take that, _I thought, but that isn't enough to stop me.

He thinks he can just _yell _at me. Only _me_, not Jay or Zane or Lloyd. He's never really yelled at any of us before. Not even Jay, and they're the two that don't get along the most.

I walked into the bedroom with nothing but a towel on. The bedroom light was on. If Cole was in here, maybe I could smother him with it.

I stared in the mirror across from the shower, where the sink was. I looked pretty angry. I stomped into the bedroom, still quite pissed, and found the light was on because of someone _else _other than Cole. (Disappointingly.)

"What do you want," I snapped at Lloyd. The kid was standing in the middle of the room, unwrapping his hands with the white tape, and looked up in surprise when I appeared. His jaw went slack.

"Um."

"Are you going to keep staring at me, or are you going to turn around so I can get dressed?"

"Uh. Like, um, sure." Lloyd turned his back on me. I changed into my pajamas behind him, then flicked him on the back of the head when I was done. Lloyd groaned.

"Are you really going to stay mad?" He asked while I climbed into my bunk, searching for the edge of my blanket so I could pull it over me and fall asleep, forgetting this whole mess until I had to face it in the morning.

"Yes."

Lloyd pouted. "You know it's not necessary to-"

"I don't care. Just leave me alone."

**~Lloyd**

I walked upstairs, feeling a little sad for Kai. All I'd known was that the guys had come home angrier than I'd ever seen them, especially Cole, and when I'd asked Zane what the big deal was, he said it was because everyone had different opinions and now they were clashing because of it. It made sense, but it didn't make sense.

I found that Cole was beating out his anger on the dummy I had been training with. He looked avenging, so I decided I'd go find Jay for entertainment. That didn't turn out well when I saw him and Nya in the TV/gaming room, on the couch discussing something in hushed tones that probably circulated around Kai and his big screw up this evening. It was one of those "No Kids Allowed" things that Jay pulled on me all the time, making me have to turn right around to find Zane. The nindroid was on the upper deck, channeling peace in a lotus position, his eyes shut gently together. I debated over sitting down next to him when I decided that maybe he wasn't in the mood to be bothered, and sighed my way to Sensei's room.

Although I _did _knock first.

"Come in," said the craggly voice of my uncle. I opened the door.

He was sitting on his mattress, fingering a wrinkled piece of paper into a roll as I stepped inside. He gently blinked at me. "Hello, Lloyd," he softly mused.

"Why is everyone so worked up?" I asked, sitting on my knees in front of him. "We can always just go steal the cup-thing back, since we've done that before. Kai might've screwed up a little, but it isn't like he _tries _to."

"What bothers my students is not that he does not try to evade plans. It is that he doesn't try to change that problem. That is what makes them so irritated." Sensei set the scroll on the mattress beside him. "Fights happen between brothers. I should know. But it will not set the ninja apart from each other."

I nodded. "Yeah, okay." I pointed to the scroll. "What's that?"

Sensei reached down and absentmindedly fingered the parchment. "It is just a legend," he said.

"What KIND of legend?" I asked.

My uncle looked uncomfortable at that question. "Just a legend," he said, sounding worried.

"I can keep a secret," I pressed. "You'll never hear me say a word to anyone!"

He shook his head. "Nosiness is not a good trait to have," he said.

"Neither is cagey-ness." I smirked when he was cornered at his own game. "What legend is it, Sensei?"

Uncle stood, dusting off his kimono, and picked up the paper. He walked towards his dresser and produced a key from under his shirt, then pushed it into a lock on one of the drawers. He slipped the paper inside and locked it after himself. The key disappeared back in the folds of his kimono.

I pursed my lips. He obviously didn't want me to know what kind of legend that was, otherwise he wouldn't be locking his drawer... Sensei turned to me, noting my thoughtful expression, and blew out the candle sitting on his dresser. "You must rest," he said. "Big day tomorrow."

"Ugh, TRAINING?" I groaned, getting to my feet. He definitely wasn't taking me to the amusement park for my 'big day.' I glanced quickly at the dresser where he'd hidden the legend. I wondered why he was so adamant about letting me see it?

"You must become your best to defeat your father," he said, and shooed me out of the room. I was left in the dark hallway with an idea brewing behind my eyebrows. The childish part of me was beginning to show itself a little again, and this time, with a brilliant plan. I ran down the hall for our bedroom. If Sensei didn't want me to see that legend, then obviously I was going to get it, one way or another, with four henchmen at my disposal. The real trouble would be convincing them to help me steal the paper from him.


	2. 2 Childish Games

2. Childish Games

**~Cole**

After taking some time to think about my actions, punching out the anger on the sand dummy, I realized that maybe I was a little hard on Kai. I mean, it's not like he tried to let the Serpentine take the Violet Goblet (what a kinky name) on purpose; he was trying to make things move quicker, but that ended up making us all fall into our _own _trap and practically break our faces on the tile in the museum. The museum owners would also probably be riding our asses about getting that goblet back, and surely we'd see the image of the purple cup all over the news by the time Jay turned it on in the morning. There'd be no escaping the headlines, not until we brought it back.

_If Kai stuck to the plan, none of this would've happened, _said a voice in the back of my head, but I wiggled my nose. Kai was only trying to make things work quicker. Still though, his impatience crippled us and if he didn't figure it out soon, we'd be in trouble.

I left the dummy alone and went to find him. I needed to apologize. I felt a little bad for yelling at him like that in front of everyone- I should've at least kept myself cool.

I was about to go down the stairs when I ran into Lloyd. We both fell to the deck's hard floor, groaning when my elbow slammed hard against the wood. I looked up to find myself pinned to the _Bounty _by Lloyd Garmadon (who wasn't so little anymore) holding me down by my legs and restraining me by the hands pressed to my shoulders. I was going to explain to him that guys didn't do this to other guys, until he interrupted me. "COLE!' he shouted.

"Ugh. _What?" _

"COLE! Sensei has a"- Lloyd lowered his voice-"secret scroll in his room."

I rolled my eyes. "And I have a secret _Playboy _issue under my bed. So what?"

Lloyd's face turned sour. He let go of my shoulders. "That's nasty," he said.

"It was sarcasm."

"Oh! In that case, I'm not being sarcastic. He seriously does. He told me that it's a legend." Lloyd's eyes brightened the way they used to, as a kid, when he got excited about something. I sat up, trying to push him off of me, but the kid was resilient enough to wrap his legs around my waist. My face turned red. If anybody saw this, I'd never live it down.

"Get off," I grunted.

"WAIT! I'm not done yet," Lloyd said, and shook my shoulders. "He said it was a legend, but he wouldn't tell me what. He got nervous when I asked." Lloyd's smile brightened. "We should steal it while he's sleeping!"

"Lloyd," I growled, shoving him off me. The Green Ninja fell onto his ass, but was unaffected. "I've got better things to worry about than something Sensei doesn't want to tell us. If he wants to keep it a secret, that's his choice."

I started to walk around him, but Lloyd grabbed the tail of my shirt, pulling me back. I could've easily powered on through that, since I was stronger than him, but hurting Lloyd would make me feel even more worse than I did already. Instead, I ripped my clothes out of his hand, turning on his pleading gaze. "C'mon, Cole. Isn't it better than fighting with Kai?"

I filled my cheeks with air. "Just...keep the childish games to yourself, Lloyd," I said. "Sensei's business is Sensei's business. He'll tell us when he's ready to tell us." I walked away from him without another word. Lloyd may have grown up by body, but by mind, he still had a lot of maturing to do. I let the hallway downstairs consume me in darkness.

**~Jay**

Nya was in my arms, wrapped soothingly in them, with her back pressed against my chest. Now that we shared the same room, it felt more right, other than sleeping in the bunk room with Cole and the others. Plus, it gave Lloyd a better bed to sleep in. He'd had to sleep in this ugly cot that he complained hurt his back, but now he got one of those awesome cardboard beds that outmatched the cot. (Yes, there was sarcasm there.) We laid on our bed, her soft breathing light and sleepy, and mine slowed to match hers. Underneath the covers, we were both warm, and I loved the way that my hand was laced with hers against her stomach while she fell asleep.

I heard a knock at our door. I ignored it, until the knocking became more persistent by the growing seconds. "Get that," mumbled Nya, and she rolled away from me so I could get up. My body ached with the loss, but I shuffled towards the door. Whoever was on the other side was in big trouble.

Lloyd stood on the other side. "Hiya," he said. I curled my lip.

"What do you want?"

"A faaaavooorrr."

I narrowed my eyes. No one said 'favor' with seven vowels and five consonants like that without having some trick up their sleeve. I rubbed my eyes. "What?"

"Okay, well, see, Sensei has this scroll in his room-"

"No."

Lloyd became appalled. He threw up his hands. "You don't even know what I was going to say!" He cried.

"You're going to ask me to steal it," I raised my damaged eyebrow, leaning on the door frame. Lloyd looked hopeful. "You're very predictable, and my answer is no."

"But-"

"Good _night, _Lloyd." I closed the door in his face. No way I was going to do something so childish and tricky, especially to Sensei. The guy obviously had a reason for keeping whatever scroll it was from us, because Sensei told us everything. I crawled back into bed beside Nya and curled under the covers alongside her.

"What was that?" She mumbled without opening her eyes. I kissed her ear.

"Nothing important," I explained vaguely, and buried my face in her shoulder to sleep.

**~Zane**

I was not able to predict the exact essence of my peace until I was suffering from it being destroyed. I heard footsteps coming up behind me, but I did not expect someone to be unwise enough to jerk me from the zen state I achieved so rudely. Lloyd's voice shattered my inner amity and pulled me back to the present, where I found a light rain falling from the sky. Inside myself, I never would've noticed that. If I were human, I would've sighed, but politely indulged in Lloyd's presence. "Yes?" I asked. The teen was at my side, staring down at me with an insidious grin. My senses didn't like that.

"Zaaaaannnneee, I need your help."

I stood up, brushing off light raindrops from my skin. "What can I assist you with?" I asked, guiding him into the shelter of the kitchen so I could dry myself.

"Sensei has this scroll in his room," explained the teen. I listened while helping myself to a small rag, dabbing my face with the cloth. "And he won't exactly let me see it-"

"You want to take it from him without his knowledge, don't you?"

"Why does everyone keep figuring it out?" Lloyd stomped his foot.

I chuckled. "When you start a hiring process with those words, i do believe you are implying that you intend to take it from him without letting him know you have stolen it, only to return it after you've peeked. I do think that is unwise, and it is also disrespectful to Sensei; he will tell us in time what he has on that scroll. You just need to be patient."

"Well, I know, but what if he won't show us?" Lloyd asked curiously.

"Then I suppose he will not show us." I placed a hand on his shoulder. Lloyd looked disappointed. "Unless it is a love letter, Sensei Wu will show us in time, and you do not need to stress about it. No worries, as humans say." I smiled. "Now, you ought to go to sleep. Training takes place early in the morning."

Lloyd scowled. I patted him on the head and turned out the door, leaving him behind as I braved the rain just long enough to go to my bedroom and sleep myself out.

**~Lloyd**

When I actually got into the bedroom, I felt unaccomplished. I hadn't convinced anyone to help me peek at that scroll! What was so bad that Sensei needed to hide it from us? Really, there was no need for that. I climbed into my bed in the darkness, hearing the soft breathing of everyone else around me, and pulled my covers high up over my ears. I needed to find sleep, but it wouldn't find me; I tossed and turned for at least another hour before I could calm down. The idea of the scroll was bugging me. Normally, I wasn't very nosy, but this was just itching at my skin. I had this really deep, ugly sense that something would change when Sensei read that to us, something extremely big and extremely life-changing, that would alter our world dramatically.

When I thought that, I didn't know how true that would be later on in the story...


End file.
